DNA Project

I've been spending a lot of time on the Early Chesapeake DNA Project this month in order to prepare an article and presentation for the Gloucester Genealogical Society. If you're in the area, the presentation is set for November 24 at 10 a.m. at the Gloucester Public Library.

Do you have family history in the Chesapeake region? Consider joining the group.

Early Chesapeake DNA Project Background:

This initiative has been established to extend the genealogical work of those with colonial and early U.S. (pre-Civil War) roots in the early Chesapeake region of Virginia and Maryland. Those with surnames and family histories linking them to the area are invited to join. Please forward information about your Chesapeake Bay region (Baltimore, Maryland, to Norfolk, Virginia) ancestor(s) to the Group Administrator. The administrator has taken on this project as a volunteer with a long-term interest in adding to the body of knowledge on the evolution of English society in the Chesapeake Bay region. Many immigrants to the area came in response to the need for labor for the large-scale production of tobacco. Since most were young and poor, it has been difficult for genealogists and historians to make the transatlantic connection. Up to the time of the Civil War, Virginia and Maryland received many whose prospects were bleak in the old world. It is hoped that the application of DNA genealogy will illuminate family connections and link researchers to English origins. Evidence based on DNA analysis has already illustrated that some related individuals from England settled near one another once in Virginia and Maryland. Early Chesapeake Project members with the same surname who did not know one another previously have found that their relations were in the same Chesapeake Bay county. An interest in exploring the DNA roots of early Chesapeake settlers began with the Group Administrator's research in Mathews County, Virginia, located on Virginia's Middle Peninsula and discoveries she made after having her father's DNA analyzed. She found she was related to groups that did not share her surname. Surnames were adopted in England from the 12th to the 18th century with the less wealthy being the last to adopt the practice. Many others with roots in the early Chesapeake region may find themselves in the same situation! As an author and freelance writer (www.saraelewis.com), she may ask participants who make interesting discoveries to allow her to publish their stories. If anything is published, no reference will be made to participants or their ancestors without permission. The surnames listed above are related to her Mathews County research, but participation in the group is not limited to them. About Mathews, Virginia: Mathews was formed in 1790 from Gloucester County, Virginia. Hugh Gwynn of Wales was an early settler whose land patents extended along the Piankatank River. Gwynn's Island bears his name and Milford Haven, the body of water that separates the Island from the Mathews mainland, is a clue to his Welsh roots. Other 1600s land records for the area that became Mathews include the names Armestead (Armistead), Bohannon, Billups, Curtis, Davis, Degges (Diggs), Dudley, Elliot, Forrest, Lillie (Lilly), Ludlow, Marchant, Mechen (Mecham), Morgan, Putnam, and others. The boundaries of Gloucester County's colonial period Kingston Parish include most of modern day Mathews. The parish vestry’s register of marriages and births from 1749 to 1827 remains a key tool for genealogists. The modern county is still populated by many descendants of its earliest settlers.

Trickle-up Bailout

The economy and the election. It's hard to think about anything else this week. At dinner with friends last night I tried to make a point about Reagan-age trickle-down economics. The friends (one backing each of the two political "teams") and the Margaritas were too good to push it too far.

Anyway, I was glad to see a little follow-up in the Washington Post this morning by two smart dudes from Yale. They propose a trickle-up bailout plan. Here is my pared down cut-and-paste of the article, in case you don't have time to read the whole thing:

The theory underlying the bailout plan stalled in Congress is that rescuing the finance industry will ... eventually trickle down to average Americans.

There is an easier and more politically palatable fix: Pay off all the delinquent mortgages.

Some will argue that it is grossly unfair ... why should my profligate neighbor be rewarded for overleveraging himself?

Because such unfairness is a small price to pay to avoid a rapid transition to a socialist economy, the collapse of our financial system (and its related global implications) and a frightening shift of economic power toward the executive branch. Why shell out $700 billion to Wall Street dealmakers and the companies they managed into this mess? Wouldn't it be preferable for individual homeowners to benefit directly?

Homeowners would become partners with the government in resolving the crisis.

This solution would start by helping ordinary Americans and would quickly spill over to revive the financial markets. Directly addressing the underlying cause of the crisis would help ensure that we would not be facing the same crisis again down the road. While Wall Street has only recently felt the bite of foreclosures and delinquencies, communities across the nation will face greater financial and social fallout if the foreclosure crisis continues.

www.saraelewis.com

Don't Rake Leaves!

Give yourself a break this year and don't rake your leaves! Leaf raking is an aesthetic choice that has evolved with the development of suburban lifestyles and the habit of growing carpet-green lawns.

But leaf raking is not necessary! In fact, it is downright harmful to the environment. There is no reason to rake leaves unless you are collecting them to use in a compost pile or as mulch underneath trees and shrubs or around perennials.

Instead, run over leaves with a lawn mower every five days or so. Leaf litter will not smother the grass. Microbes will decay the litter and treat your lawn to a feast of nutrients.

Pile up the leaves and jump in them with the kids. Afterwards, pile them up again and add twigs and branches to hold them in place. The leaf pile will provide food and cover for birds and all sorts of insects, reptiles, and small mammals. Enjoy looking for toads and watching rabbits. Develop your backyard as a habitat. The National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitat program can guide you.

www.saraelewis.com

Today's Sermon

The topic of today's sermon at the Williamsburg Unitarian Universalists church: "Is This All There Is?"

A loaded question, of course, and one that is seldom asked until life presents us with a crisis. I found the WUU church about 15 years ago ... after a crisis. I return time and again to center myself on this very question and to focus on being "at one" with the world.

Like 90% of Unitarian Universalists, I jumped ship from a mainstream church because I wasn't comfortable with pat solutions and a promise of afterlife. While services, prayers, and songs made me tingle, the mainstream church usually left me cold. Answers were easy to accept in the short term, but they didn't really address my yearning to explore, learn, and grow. Magical thinking didn't do it for me because is rooted in one historical story, embellished over time for largely political reasons, and humanity's story is a very recent one at that.

I found what I needed in the Unitarian Universalists church and I was reminded of this today. The minister discussed the fact that Unitarian Universalism isn't a church that believes in everything and nothing, as it is often portrayed. Rather, the UU church attracts those who are drawn to depth and a spirit-centered life. The UU church supports people in their exploration of the great questions of life. It supports people who have discerned that materialism is not the answer and that, after all, life is short. It supports people who value thoughtful spirituality.

The UU church supports people who value wholeness. Wholeness is spiritual and to get there we have to move beyond the material realm. The UU church is a place UUs support on Sundays and other days, as we are willing and able, because it helps us discover the fleeting beauty and awesome depth of life in a complex world. The church helps us focus on the fact that we feel whole when we simplify. We prefer a short, deep, thoughtful, and whole existence to a "long life of half-baked hapiness" where material things and magical thinking distract us from what it means to be human.

www.saraelewis.com

New Quarter Park Habitats

We're having an all-day Walk and Talk program at New Quarter Park on November 1. Here's the press release:

All-day Walk and Talk on Habitats at New Quarter Park

September 26, 2008 – A daylong “Habitat Happening” will be held at New Quarter Park, a York County park near Williamsburg, Virginia, on Saturday, November 1, in lieu of the park’s usual 2-hour Walk and Talk. Participants will explore the plants and animals that live in the upland forest, ridges and bottoms, meadows, and wetland habitats at the park with local experts.

The program, coordinated by the Historic Rivers Chapter, Virginia Master Naturalists, will begin at 9:00 a.m. with registration. At 9:30 a.m. participants will explore plants and their habitats with Dr. Donna Ware, retired herbarium curator with the Department of Biology at William and Mary, and Jim Orband, horticulture and natural resources agent, County of York. The brown bag lunch speaker will be Dr. Randy Chambers, director of the Keck Environmental Laboratory at William and Mary, who will talk about recent research on turtles. In the afternoon, Dave Graft, Lafayette High School biology and oceanography teacher, will lead participants in the discovery of animals that live in the wetlands and open water habitats surrounding the park. The program will conclude at 3:30 p.m.

The fee for the event is $25 (checks payable to Treasurer, County of York) and participation is limited to 30 people, ages 16 through adult. Download a registration form from the November 1 calendar link at http://historicrivers.org/. Complete the form and mail it with your check to Historic Rivers Chapter, Virginia Master Naturalists, P.O. Box 6424, Williamsburg, VA 23187. For more information, call Shirley Devan, Historic Rivers Chapter, Virginia Master Naturalists, at 757-813-1322. Participants should bring a brown bag lunch and dress to spend the day outdoors.

www.saraelewis.com